Related Cases (14)
Related Novels (7)
Related Chapters (10)
A Manifesto of Clean Hands
Words: 2984 · Source Novel:: The Innocence Algorithm
Zero Threshold broadcasts a manifesto from a masked spokesperson known only as Arbiter Zero, who speaks in the soft, bureaucratic cadence of a public-health video. The group claims to operate a flawless “Retroactive Deterrence” system, citing the Carter case as proof that society craves preemptive purity. Elias and a handful of detainees manage a chaotic escape during a public execution ceremony in a town square, where a crowd films the proceedings on their phones but does nothing. Hiding in an abandoned library, the fugitives argue about guilt: the violent man embraces his classification, the poet insists on the sanctity of thought, and Elias is paralyzed by the memory of once wishing harm on a bullying colleague. The chapter ends with the group discovering that one of them is a covert Zero Threshold observer, installed to refine the algorithm through real-time stress data.
Jury of Shadows
Words: 2980 · Source Novel:: Shadow Net
With no hard evidence, Nina decides to leverage the civil trial—Castro v. Central Alabama Asphalt—as a public forum. She subpoenas the company’s financial records, forcing Carter Kilgore to testify. Under oath, he slips a reference to a "special shipping container" that matches the server hardware. The syndicate orders his execution mid-trial.
The Morning List
Words: 2437 · Source Novel:: The Innocence Algorithm
On an ordinary Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Veridiana upholds the Predictive Safety Act in Carter v. Westland, granting the state power to detain anyone scoring above 75 on the Propensity Index. Days later, a clandestine group called Zero Threshold hacks the national database and publishes an execution list, claiming to perfect justice. Elias Morgen, a forty-year-old history teacher in the suburb of Glenhaven, sees his own name and photo on the list while eating breakfast. The charge: an anonymous report about a heated classroom debate from fifteen years ago and a genetic marker for low impulse control. By noon, two neighbors on the list are found dead in their homes, each with a neat note reading “Future Blood Erased.” Elias’s teenage daughter stares at him as if he is already a monster.
The Asphalt Connection
Words: 2980 · Source Novel:: Shadow Net
Reuben Bias, guilt-ridden, confesses to Nina from his hospital bed (he was injured in a "car accident" arranged by the company). He reveals that the company’s owner, Carter Kilgore, financed the syndicate’s US operations using road-construction contracts as money laundering. The crash that injured Castro was a cover for transporting encrypted servers.
The Detour at Millbrook Road
Words: 2987 · Source Novel:: The Fatal Bounce
Liam Carter, a struggling mechanic, misses his exit during a thunderstorm and accidentally turns onto a desolate road. He spots a garish neon sign for "SkyVault Trampoline Park" and, on a whim, decides to wait out the rain inside. The chapter is steeped in Yokomizo-esque dread: the empty reception, the too-cheerful staff, and the labyrinthine foam pit area. The narrative flashes forward to his sister Ella receiving a call that Liam is brain-dead after a catastrophic fall. In a parallel thread, aging billionaire Reginald Thorne is informed that a compatible heart has become "available" through the Circe Network. The chapter closes with a chilling detail—a faded waiver form Liam signed without reading, bearing the same logo as Thorne's philanthropic foundation.